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7950GT or 8600GTS

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Caviman2201

Caviman2201

Member
​
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Location
MD
... newegg has them both for $199... if I were buying right now to upgrade from a 7600GT, which would you suggest? 8600GTS will probably run much better when DX10 games start showing up but right now according to this article, the 7950GT is WAY faster in BF2 (which is my primary game right now) to the tune of 26fps faster @ 1600x1200 w/ 4xAA & Trilinear Filtering turned on...
 
Man that is a tough call. Future proof yourself or better now?

I am going to lean towards future proof yourself even though normally I do not. It sucks cuz there really aren't any DX10 games out yet. So you will be sitting on technology and not using it. Unless you play BF2 a WHOLE lot, I'd get the 8600.

Here's the other thing that sucks, or maybe not. You can spend just a little bit more and get a 8800gts 320mb. That beats the 7950 right?

--pak
 
I'm sure an 8800GTS 320MB will beat a 7950GT but they pretty much start at $300 so its not just "a little more". You're talking about spending another $100, which is 50% more than I originally intended... The games I play are BF2 (~85%), Company of Heroes (~10%) and Sid Meier's Pirates! (~5%). I have a nice 19" Samsung CRT so I like to crank stuff up to 1600x1200 w/ AA & AF if possible... my 7600GT can only really do BF2 at 1280x1024 unless I drop the eye candy down to low and turn off AA & AF. I'm also considering making my last Socket-939 upgrade from my 3500+ to a 4200+ X2 to completely prepare me for Vista and last another year or two... Quite a dilemma for me...
 
Just to confuse everyone... you can get an X1950XT for just over $200 as well... so its in the same category and runs pretty much neck and neck with the 7950GT
 
Basically, I'm looking for the best card that $200-$225 will buy right now...
 
Caviman2201 said:
Basically, I'm looking for the best card that $200-$225 will buy right now...
Click to expand...
Well it's not the 8600gts because I bought one a few hours ago and I'm completely disappointed with it :(
I'm getting like a 10000 3dm05 at stock clocks :bang head:
 
I think the x1900's are the best in that range. And sorry, for some reason I thought you could get a 8800gts 320 for $240.

--pak
 
This question pops up every year and the answer is always the same:

ALWAYS go with the new tech.

Always, always, always.

Dx10 not important to you now?

It will be a year from now. Unless you just plan on throwing out that 7950 in a year.

Think of all those poor fools that told me: "I don't care about Shader Model 3.0..."

Well they sure as hell started caring about it when games started REQUIRING it. And you shall care about Shader Model 4.0 as well.

Get the 8600. Nuff said.
 
you're right... I've just never spent anywhere near $260 on a graphics card... I've always been pretty good sticking with whatever $200 card was available... and at any price point, you could get a better card for "just a little more". Thats our curse... for any given price point, the "next best thing" is just BARELY within reach... the problem is if you break down and go to that level, you could just spend a little more and get the NEXT best thing...

I suppose I'll probably end up getting the 8600GT as it looks like the exact same card, core, memory, etc. just clocked slightly lower... I'll get a Zalman cooler and take it to beyond 8600GTS...

Thanks for your help...

I suppose it just bugs me that the step from the 7600GT to the 8600GT is nowhere NEAR what the jump was from 6600GT to 7600GT... that was like night and day. The 7600GT gets like twice the fps that a 6600GT gets in the same game... The 8600GT/GTS only gets maybe 5-10fps better in most games until you run things like HDR lighting or advanced physics. That is where the 8xxx series shines but the problem is, after adding things like that, its really not very playable in EITHER card even though it is BETTER in the 8xxx vs 7xxx...
 
Last edited:
Plus you also have to remember that while most of us probably don't make buttloads more cash than we did just a few years ago, video cards sure seem to cost a whole lot more. When I built my last gaming rig, I don't recall seeing more than a few cards over $300. Now $300 will barely even put you into the "top end".
 
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